Equipment or payload attached to moving vehicles (e.g., helicopters, airplanes, space vehicles, ships, ground vehicles, etc.) often experience dynamic loading. For instance, the equipment or payload may experience severe and random vibrational loading. Reducing or eliminating this dynamic loading is a challenging design consideration when integrating equipment or payload onto vehicles. One conventional approach for reducing or eliminating dynamic loading is making the equipment or payload stiff and strong enough to withstand the dynamic loading. Another conventional approach for reducing or eliminating dynamic loading is mechanically isolating the equipment or payload using a shock absorber, such as a spring suspension.
The conventional approaches for reducing or eliminating dynamic loading, however, have numerous drawbacks. For instance, making the equipment or payload stiff and strong enough to withstand the dynamic loading often substantially increases the weight of the vehicle. Further, traditional shock absorbers such as spring suspensions include preloaded springs and/or fluid energy absorbers, both of which have numerous drawbacks. For instance, preloading a spring not only takes away margin from the spring material, but preloaded springs are also prone to substantial wear over time. Another drawback is that preloaded springs behave differently at low amplitudes versus high amplitudes. An example drawback of fluid energy absorbers is that they display temperature sensitivity and thus suspensions with fluid energy absorbers will behave differently at different temperatures. Yet another drawback is that fluid energy absorbers can leak.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for improved systems and methods for reducing or eliminating dynamic loading. Particularly, there is a need for systems and methods for reducing or eliminating dynamic loading that do not involve use of preloaded springs or fluid energy absorbers. There is also a need for systems and methods for reducing or eliminating dynamic loading that are both less prone to wear and less temperature dependent than conventional approaches for reducing or eliminating dynamic loading. There is also a need for systems and methods for reducing or eliminating dynamic loading that behave the same or substantially the same at different amplitudes.